I think everyone at some point in their life finds themselves climbing the mountain. By this I don’t mean a physical mountain, but a metaphorical one. Among my favorite stories from Greek Mythology is the myth of Sisyphus. As you might recall he was the man in Hades (the Greek afterlife) who was doomed to spend all of eternity pushing a boulder up a hill. Every time he neared the top of the mountain the boulder would tumble back down to the bottom leaving Sisyphus to start the whole process again. In my mind this is the allegorical version of mountain we all must climb at some point. It is the struggles in life which we either overcome, or which overwhelm us with all of the accompanying frustration and ennui as the boulder rumbles back down to the bottom.
While thinking of Sisyphus I found many similarities between his plight and my day job. Going into work day in and day out is much like rolling the boulder up to the top of the hill, leaving it there at the end of the day and then returning the following morning only to find it back at the bottom. This metaphor illustrates how I feel like my job, and how it involves a lot of work which ultimately does not seem to lead to anything. It is tempting to just give into this day after day monotony of running in a hamster wheel eight hours a day. While I often do this, I also often try to look at the situation from a larger perspective. I find it helpful to remind myself that I am not my job, and my job is not the same as my identity. This line of thinking has lead to other realizations. If I am not by job, then by extension I am not my bank account. By further extension I am also not my possessions. The movie ‘Fight Club’ summarized this ethos very well. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I’m fortunate in that I can walk out of the door at the end of the day, and forget about work until I walk right back in the following morning. I think it is only through this avoidance of identifying with my job, this avoidance of confusing myself with the boulder that I am rolling up the hill each day, that I can step out of this daily dumbshow. Yes I still go to work each day, but even while sitting at my computer I am still outside wandering under the sun.
And now a special treat… This is rap on Sisyphus which I found online. It runs along the same lines as what I described above.
Sisyphus, the Rap Version

Funky dude name of Sisyphus be walkin' up a hill
And the rock he be rollin' weigh so much he wanna kill
And the gods all be laughin' when he get up to the top
'Cause the rock won't be stayin'
They all know it gonna drop
But Sisyphus be cool
Well, you know he aint no fool
'Cause the rock be his thing
And the mountain be his too
And the gods can't beat him, no matter what they do
So though his burden's heavy
And his body tired and torn
You know there aint no funky fate
Can't be overcome by scorn!